A Copy of Mr. William Seward's Letter: In Anfwer to one received from his Brother the Rev. Mr. Thomas Seward at Genoa.

Reverend and dear Brother,

BY

Y God's Providence we are not yet embarked for Georgia, fo I had the Pleasure of receiving your kind and well-meant Anfwer. I find my Letter has met with the expected Reception. I knew it would furprize you. I fhould have been furprized myself, had I been in your Circumftances. Ere long, I hope, we fhall all be of one Mind. My Brother Benjamin once oppofed, as you do; but, bleffed be God, he is now become a Fool for Chrift's Sake. May the fame Grace which has been fufficient for us, be fufficient for you alfo ! Methinks I fee you unwilling to fay, Amen; for you believe we are both deceived. As for my Brother Benjamin, he is of Age, let him speak for himself. I can fay in my own behalf, that I cannot fufficiently praise God for bringing me, by his Free Grace, out of that Darkness in which you left me, into his marvellous Light. I know indeed you imagined me to be a true Chriftian before you embarked; and fo I thought myself. But I found myself miftaken, when it pleafed God afterwards to re

veal his dear Son in me, and to fhew me the Way of Salvation more perfectly. As for the Articles of our Church, the Doctrine of the Spirit of God, of Regeneration, and of Fustification by Faith only, I was almoft a stranger to them all; nor do I remember to have heard any of them preached or explained by our Clergy. Indeed, I prayed, went to Church, and gave Alms; but why, and wherefore, I knew not, being ignorant of the true Nature and Office of that Spirit by which I was affifted to do thefe good Works. I knew little or nothing of a vital Faith in Jefus Chrift. I obeyed God and Chriftin part, but not univerfally. I hated Sin indeed, but had not Dominion over it. You fay, my dear Brother, that if a Man that believes in Chrift, and obeys God, is not a Chriftian, what is Chriftianity? But is not this, my dear Brother, begging the Question? If a Man believes, you fay: But the Query is, What this Belief inay be? Not a bare historical Affent to the Truths and Facts recorded in the Scripture (for this is only the Faith of Devils) but a vital Faith wrought in the Heart by the bleffed Spirit of God, and productive of good Works; this is a Faith I never fully felt before Mr. Charles Wesley expounded the 7th of the Romans; and I cannot but always honour him as an Inftrument in God's Hand of fhewing me the true way of Salvation by Jefus Chrift. You may call this Quakerifm, or what you pleafe, my dear Brother. I know it is the Faith which Chrift and his Apoftles preached; and therefore I pray God I may continue ftedfaft in this Faith, and that you alfo may become a partaker of it. Tis true, Gg 2

the

the Doctrine of Faith, and the Feeling of the Holy Ghoft have been abused. But muft I therefore believe and experience no fuch thing? Might I not as juftly throw away my Bible, becaufe the Devil once quoted Scripture? Or think Christianity all a Cheat, because Judas proved a Traitor. That there is fuch a thing as inward Feelings, and that we must receive the Holy Ghoft in its fanctifying Graces, (though not to enable us to work Miracles) as well as the first Apoftles, furely my dear Brother will not deny. If he does, why has he fo often used the Col1ects of our Church without any Meaning! Why did he tell the Bishop, when ordained Deacon, that he was inwardly moved by the Holy Ghoft! Indeed you pray, my dear Brother, that we may return to the Church of England. But this is ftill taking that for granted, which is to be proved. We are not diffenting from it; neither are the Methodists, as the World in Derifion calls them. So far from it, that they constantly preach up the Articles, Collects, Homilies, and Liturgies of our own Church. But here lies the Truth of the Matter. The Doctrines of the Reformation have lain a long while dormant. The Generality (I will not fay all) of our Englih Clergy have fadly fallen from them. God has raised up fome to preach the Truth as it is in Jefus, and as held by our Church. He has fet his Seal to their Miniftry. They have made abundantly more Converts than those zealous Atheists you mentioned. The Pleasure, Preferment-loving Clergy envy their Succefs, and therefore are confederate againft them. Perhaps

my

my dear Brother may think this uncharitable. But, I think, I fpeak the Truth in Christ. I lie not. I wifh it was otherwife. And though you tax me with a want of Charity in this refpect, yet I think, fhould I judge otherwife, I fhould put bitter for fweet, and fweet for bitter; I fhould put Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness.

I am far from being bigotted to the Methodifts, or to Mr. Whitefield in particular, out of a blind Zeal. I will follow him, or no Man, farther than he follows Chrift. I believe him to be a fincere good Minifter of Jefus Chrift. You do not feem to think fo. Who wants Charity then, my dear Brother, you or me? By their Fruits you shall know them, fays our Lord. Do the other Clergy bring forth fuch Fruit? Did not the budding of Aaron's Rod, when those of the other Priefts bore nothing, fhew who was truly called of God? But perhaps you may judge me and him both as Vain-glorious; but give me leave, my dear Brother, to remind you of the Apoftle's Words, Who art thou, O Man, that judgest another Man's Servant: To our own Mafter we stand or fall. What if there was a Tincture of Vain-glory in my advertising formerly, does it therefore follow that my Eye cannot be fingle now?

You seem to reflect on me, my dear Brother, for going round the Kingdom with fuch a Knight-Errant as Whitefield. I wish you had ufed milder Terms. But, my dear Brother, may I not justly turn the Tables upon yourself, and reflect on your leaving your Flock, and travelling

travelling merely for Profit, or little elfe? When that Man of God had deferted his Station, fays God, What doeft thou here, Elijah? May I not afk you the fame Queftion, What doeft thou there abroad, my dear Brother, when you ought to be feeding your Sheep at home? Perhaps you may anfwer, You have committed them to the Care of a Curate. But may not I reply to you, as I was told St. Bernard did once on a like Occafion, But will your Curate be damned for you? O my dear Brother, I befeech you by the Mercies of God in Christ Jefus, firft pull the Beam out of your own Eye, before you fo much as presume even to offer to pull the Mote out of your Brother's Eye. For God's Sake, my dear Brother, do not charge others with being righteous overmuch, before you can prove that you are righteous enough yourself. Return home, my dear Brother, watch diligently that Flock committed to your Care, catechife and vifit from House to House, live as Christ lived, teach as he taught, leave off hunting after Preferment, and cease to please the polite World, and then I will think you a proper Person to judge, whether the Methodists are Enthusiasts or not. But till then, my dear Brother, you would do well to hold your Peace, left your Mouth fhould immediately be ftopped by, Phyfician, beal thyfelf. Excufe, my dear Brother, this feeming Severity. Love for God, Love for you, constrains me to use this Freedom. I blush to think I fhould take upon me to inftruct a Clergyman, who ought to teach me.

But